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Key Takeaways
- Beef tallow, a type of oil used for cooking, is growing more common at restaurants, including Steak 'n Shake.
- Nutritionists suggest that seed oils are a better option.
- Datassential is a food service insights firm that estimates 8% restaurant menus will contain beef tallow over the next four years.
There was bone marrow. Duck confit. Now beef tallow has become the new cooking medium.
Tallow—basically, beef fat cooked down to solid form—is coming up in food conversations across the country these days. It was a hot topic at a restaurant convention in New York City earlier this week, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently scarfed down fries cooked in the fat at a Steak ‘n Shake in Florida.
Fans praise the flavor of the oil and its health benefits. They claim that it is superior in comparison to other seed oils, such as canola and vegetables. It is increasingly appearing on restaurant menus, frozen fries and chips packages, and beauty products.
“I hear about this all the time,” said Brian Goodman who sells meats for New Jersey-based Marx Foodservice. Marx Foodservice specializes in antibiotic free, pasture-raised New Zealand beef. “I’m looking for it now.”
Americans’ moves toward tallow may be a matter of palate preferences, ideological leanings—Kennedy, a Trump appointee, has boosted the slogan “Make America Healthy Again”—or efforts to eat healthier.
It seems that restaurants are catching up with this trend, regardless of the reasons for which diners choose to do so. Technomic, the food service insight firm, says that menu mentions increased by 40% between 2023 and 2024. Steak ‘n Shake said this spring that it was moving away from seed oils and cooking fries, onion rings and chicken tenders in tallow instead.
Kennedy said a number of restaurants, including Popeyes, Outback Steakhouse and Buffalo Wild Wings, have or are in the process of transitioning away from seed oil while dining at Steak ‘n Shake on Fox News. In their allergen guides, all three restaurants mention that beef tallow and shortening can be used in some dishes.
Kennedy, speaking on Fox News in Florida earlier this month, said: “We want to encourage these companies to be transparent and to switch from ultraprocessed foods.”
It’s a far cry from a necessity. According to the North American Renderers Association (a trade group), the amount of tallow produced each year for human consumption has increased from 16% to 17% in the last decade. Datassential, a food service insights firm, expects the ingredient to land on 8% of menus in the next four years, though it's currently on less than 1%.
Nutritionists say that both tallows and seed oils are processed food. Research shows that animal fats have more saturated fatty acids–which are known to increase cholesterol and the risk of developing heart disease, according to Sander Kersten, director of Cornell University’s Division of Nutritional Sciences–than seed oils.
Tallow’s supporters say that it is less processed than seeds oils and contains fat soluble vitamins and nutrients such as choline. They also claim it contains conjugated linoleic and choline acids, which help to reduce hunger and improve the metabolism.
NARA members have noted an increase in demand for cooking grade tallow. Food distributors are trying to meet the growing demand.
Gary Roccaro of Maximum Quality Foods (a New Jersey distributor) said that the company is looking for a way to supply the product to halal-certified kitchens. Goodman stated that Marx Foodservice would like to start a line of tallow. He says the current craze is similar to a time 15 years ago, when duck fat was popular. He said that animal fats have a higher smoke point than seed oils. This helps to prevent burning and imparts a distinct flavor.
Goodman said that beef tallow is less expensive than duck lard. The product can be expensive, however. On Etsy, shops sell tallow made with organic grass-fed cattle for as high as $30 per pound. Online, a five-ounce package of tallow fried chips can cost anywhere from $6.50 up to $15.
“Everybody was taking duck fat and cooking potatoes in it,” Goodman said. “With beef-tallow it’s exactly the same.” But duck fat is now $44 for three pounds—and tallow is half the price.”
Restaurant vendors report that tallow is also a topic of more questions. The CEO of Bradley Mart told a trade show that customers would ask about Frylow – a ceramic device used in deep fryers to prolong oil life – every two years. (It works, he said. It changed around six months ago.
“Here, at the show, it’s twice a week, three times a week,” Mart said in Manhattan at the Javits Center.
